


Third Wheel

by TeaNSympathy



Category: For the People (TV 2018)
Genre: Episode Related, Episode s01e09 Extraordinary Circumstances, Friendship, Gen, Post Episode 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 14:56:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17920997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaNSympathy/pseuds/TeaNSympathy
Summary: "He doesn’t admit, even to himself, how in awe of them he is sometimes. Allison and Sandra. Sandra and Allison. He always thinks of them as a pair, never separately, their relationship so strong and so tight that it’s difficult to be around them and not feel like a third wheel."





	Third Wheel

McGillicuddy’s is only a few blocks from Foley Square and has cheap, strong drinks and two-dollar appetizers during happy hour. It is always packed, even on weeknights, so it is a major coup when Jay, Sandra, Allison, and Jill score a comfortable table in the back section.  
Jill seems disinclined to discuss the conference in Westchester, which they are all secretly grateful for as nobody really wants to hear anything about E-discovery, so they spend the first round of drinks talking about the Payano case, Jay’s quick thinking, and the general assholery of certain FBI agents. Then Jill heads to the bar to get the next round, Sandra leaves for the restroom, and Jay finds himself alone with Allison. Allison has been laughing over Jay’s description of the expression on Goode’s face as he read the injunction, but she suddenly grows serious after Sandra and Jill leave.  
“Thank you again for taking care of her,” she says softly to Jay. “I feel awful that I wasn’t there. The hospital thing…it’s pretty bad.”  
Jay sighs. “I know. Her mom. That’s a lot. For a kid. She’s ok, though, I think. She did great.”  
Allison’s eyes round with surprise.  
“She told you about her mom?”  
“Well…yeah.”  
“Wow. She must really trust you. She didn’t tell me that until we’d been friends for six months.” Allison tilts her head to the side, smiling at him. “You’re a good guy, Jay Simmons.”  
Warmth floods his chest and he suddenly feels as though he’s won a medal. He doesn’t admit, even to himself, how in awe of them he is sometimes. Allison and Sandra. Sandra and Allison. He always thinks of them as a pair, never separately, their relationship so strong and so tight that it’s difficult to be around them and not feel like a third wheel. He knows they like him, knows they try to include him, but he still sometimes feels like an undesired younger sibling tagging along, even though they’re all the same age. They’re just so impressive. Allison with her beauty and her impeccable legal skills and the air of money that surrounds her like expensive perfume; Sandra with her ferocity and her razor-sharp brain, her Yale degree and her clerkship for Justice Ginsburg. Jay is comfortable with who he is and wouldn’t change a thing – except for maybe the way he’d handled that fraud case- but Allison’s approval makes him swell with pride. He is enough. He belongs.  
Sandra returns to the table, sliding in across from him.  
“Bad news, Jay. Guess who just walked in. Don’t look now…”  
But it is too late. His gaze has automatically gone to the door, where he unmistakably recognizes the blonde bob and demonic Kewpie doll features that haunt his nightmares.  
“Oh God. She’s here. Hide me.”  
Allison chuckles. “Jay! It’s ok. Don’t let Kate Littlejohn get to you. We’re here. We’ve got your back.  
“Yeah!” Sandra chimes in tipsily. “I can definitely take her, if it comes to that.”  
Allison shakes her head fondly. “You” she tells Sandra “are such a lightweight. Nobody’s taking anybody.”  
“Seth’s there too!” Sandra points out.  
Allison shrugs.  
“That’s fine. It’s a big bar. We don’t have to talk to any of them.”  
“Don’t have to talk to who?”  
Jill has returned with a tray of drinks. Jay jerks his head to indicate Kate, Seth, Leonard, and Roger, who have settled into a table on the other side of the room.”  
“Kate Littlejohn.”  
He thinks her cheeks pinken just a bit as she spots the group of prosecutors. But the lighting in the bar is low and he could have been imagining it.  
“Don’t worry about it, Jay. No one’s litigating anything tonight.”  
She sets his beer in front of him and hands Allison and Sandra their wine before returning to her seat.  
“So…tell us about this Lara I keep hearing about.”  
“Yes!” Allison and Sandra chorus.  
Jay, always happy to talk about his girlfriend, whips out his phone and proceeds to go through the photos he took on their last trip to the museum. Before long, basking in the warm attention of his coworkers, he has completely forgotten that his blonde nemesis is in the building.


End file.
